I'm Back

It's been almost a year since I have written anything for this website. It's been longer than that since I've worked on my novels, poetry, or nonfiction works. The reason for this is a simple one: I've had little to nothing to say. Ever since I was banned from posting to Facebook for my piece on the Smithsonian poster, I've focused more on my schoolwork and my family since Parlor was taken down. That was the case until yesterday when a straw broke the camel's back and gave me a reason to write and expand this site further.

            To some, what I am about to say is a bit silly, but work with me for a moment. I enjoy listening to points of view I can't entirely agree with. To me, it's a bit like iron sharpening iron, allowing me to grow as a man and allowing me to at least gain an understanding of someone else's point of view. Seriously, you should see how my YouTube subscriptions are spaced out! Everything from right-wing to left-wing, and the extremists on both sides, are on there. One of the channels is called Teacher Eddie, a reaction-based channel that is pretty moderate for the most part. On this occasion, I believe that Eddie showed his true colors. He was reacting to a Transgender Woman watching Ben Shapiro and was giving his (not to be confused with "her," as my standard is a set of XX chromosomes and no nip tucked genitals for what a woman is) criticism of Ben. I commented, hoping to get some understanding of the claims he mentioned. Here's what I got:

Please let me know if the question I asked was insensitive and worthy of an "educator" insulting my character. For some reason, this bothered me. The more that I pondered, the more furious I became.

            I'm not going to apologize for what I believe or how I feel regarding matters anymore. For those who will claim that I'm a straight white male and I have no right to have an opinion on the subject, let me ask a few questions:

1-    Who voted for slaves to be freed? White men.

2-    Who pushed for women's right to vote? White men.

3-    Who passed the Civil Rights Act? A White President.

4-    Who nominated the first Black man to be a Supreme Court Judge? A White man

I could go on, but the point I'm trying to make is simple: identity politics and deconstruction narratives divide, which is the sole purpose of deconstructive politics. If you don't believe me, check out the most cited book in Humanities, particularly where it says:

Every hegemonic position is based, therefore, on an unstable equilibrium: construction starts from negativity, but is only consolidated to the extent that it succeeds in constituting the positivity of the social.[i]

All of this to say, I refuse to apologize to anyone for how I feel regarding topics anymore. The truth does not damage points of view that are legitimate. If we have concluded that talking and listening are futile, the only tool left is violence. I'm not ready to make peace with that arrangement. I'm back, and I'm willing to try at least to be a small part of the culture war. More is coming, so stay tuned!

[i] Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy Towards a Radical Democratic Politics (London: Verso, 2014), 173.